A picnic table placed in the middle of the desert. A card table sitting in the middle of the woods. A dining table placed next to the campfire. Unless there is a private or public campground surrounding the aforementioned desert, woods, or campfire, it is unlikely that a table will be sitting there for a camper to use. Even in a campground, not every campsite has picnic tables. And for the camper that camps in a less populated area, there will certainly not be any tables around for the camper to use.
The larger the group, the more important it may be to have a table available. This is particularly true for a family of campers. That means that the camper must bring his own table. Moreover, a camper requires a table that is portable, so that he may move the item easily to the location.
Historically, the first portable table sets were one piece, tabletop and "frame," really just the legs of the table, connected together. Typically, the table was made of a non-bending stiff structure, usually metal, with legs that fold underneath and into the table. The problem with this type of conventional table is that it is bulky, usually very heavy, and difficult to carry. Also, because the "table frame" is limited to four vertical legs, either the whole set must be heavy and be of limited portability, or be lightweight and not very sturdy. Also, with this type of conventional portable table, because the table does not fold up and disconnect from the frame, or legs in this instance, a conventional portable table of the aforementioned type cannot fold up to be easily transportable in any type of car.
As a result, in today's market, the direction of the manufacturers is to provide a table frame and tabletop of greater portability. One way that this has been achieved is to construct a separate portable table top and separate portable table frame. The present day conventional portable tabletops are collapsible, so that they are easily transportable. One significant problem with this collapsible table is finding a way to solve a number of problems at once, namely, finding a sturdy enough material for the table top so that when the table top is opened, there is a flat, sturdy table top on which to place things, allowing the table top to collapse or fold easily, finding a way to secure the table top to a table frame, and giving the table top enough structure so that when opened and secured to a table frame, the table top retains its form, without warping, or where the table top is made of several connected pieces, the pieces do not move around when the table top is opened.